


Leaving the closet (x2 combo)

by bERUkUN (orphan_account)



Category: Free!
Genre: Agender Character, Agender Haruka, Bigender Character, Bigender Makoto, Coming Out, Friendship/Love, Gen, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, you can either see them as platonic or romantic babies tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-16
Updated: 2015-07-16
Packaged: 2018-04-04 20:29:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,411
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4151760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/bERUkUN
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Although ae trusted aer friends deeply, Haruka had no idea how to come out to them, not even to aer best friend. Until ae found Makoto on a skirt and face full of make-up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Leaving the closet (x2 combo)

**Author's Note:**

> [I'm not this anon ok](http://trans-sports-confessions.tumblr.com/post/121581263859/text-agender-haruka-once-finds-bigender-makoto)  
>  Can I get more agender haruka and/or bigendER MAKOTO IDC THE SHIP OR THEIR RELATIONSHIP STATUS I'M THIRSTY HELP  
> Although I'm genderfuid and really wanna test the ae pronoun with myself my mothertongue doesnt allow such flexibility (thatswhyIusemalepronounsonly) plus it was my first time trying to use it soooo I hope I didnt make any mistakes using it! (no h8 pls)  
> I'm not much sure about this pronounce since I'm not native but I heard it's pronounced like ae = ay and aer = air.

Haruka really wanted to talk about gender with aer friends. Ae really did, but ae never found a way to do it.

Identifying as agender was quite natural; ae never knew much about gender identities, especially those non-binary, but deep inside ae always thought too much about 'boys team' and 'girls team' when ae was on the swimming club, even when ae was just a kid. Haruka never cared much about it though: everyone saw aer as a boy since ae was born a male, and all aer friends were male too, so aer team was already set. Ae only discovered a the word for this (and also neutral pronouns; sadly fitting English much more than Japanese) when ae was around twelve, when Haruka found out about transgender people and all the genders that existed outside the binary male/female. Ae was happy for finding it out, even already having a natural knowledge about it noticing ae wasn't alone was a great feeling and the blue eyed teen wanted to others, regardless they were cis or trans, to know more about it. However that wasn't an easy thing to do.

Although ae trusted aer friends deeply, Haruka had no idea how to come out to them, not even to aer best friend. Until ae found Makoto on a skirt and face full of make-up.

It was Saturday. They decided they'd study for their incoming _English_ test together, since it was their common worst subject. Haruka had arrived at the brunette's house earlier than planned, but Makoto's mother let aer in without questioning, telling that her son was awake already. What she didn't know was that her son wasn't getting ready for his studies, but wearing her clothing and make-up in secret.

Haruka opened aer best friend's bedroom door without knocking (what wouldn't be the first time; Makoto had allowed aer to do as ae pleased), and when aer saw him there was a uncomfortable silence between the two. Haruka's expression was blank - as always - but Makoto knew aer too much to know ae was very surprised. Makoto's was the opposite: his face was clearly showing a mix of embarrassment and fear.

After long minutes of constant staring, Makoto got next the door and closed it. Haruka got so surprised with the view ae forgot to close it. _At least Ran and Ren weren't home, and both Mr and Ms Tachibana were downstairs._ "Haru, you're... You're early," he started. "I thought you would arrive within thirty minutes or so...?"

"I thought if I arrived earlier we'd have more time to study," Haruka spoke normally, finally moving towards aer usual studying spot. Ae was acting normally, _too_ normally... What gave the other male the creeps.

"Haru... Won't you... say a thing?"

"Hm?"

"You know, because I'm wearing... feminine things?"

The agender teen looked at him. "Do you want me to say something?"

He blinked. "Well... It's not common to see a male like this, is it? You should at least question it."

"I see no problem in it. If you want to wear it, no matter your gender, that's all right."

Haruka wanted to continue aer speech, but no more sounds left aer mouth. Ae wanted to explain. Wanted to tell him. Ae wanted to say about aer gender, but for whatever reason ae didn't have the guts to do so - what was silly, since aer best friend, who aer trusted lots, seemed pretty much open about gender 'roles'.

"Can I... Tell you something?," Makoto started before ae. "Promise to not laugh or judge me?"

Haruka didn't reply - not with words. Aer look said it all, _yes, go ahead_.

Makoto breathe before starting. "Although I was born a male, I... I don't feel that boyish. There is a side in me that feels more like a girl. It sounds weird but I feel like a girl and a boy at the same time and, because of that, I'd like to test girly stuff too. I don't think I can though..."

"You're bigender."

"Yes- Wait, how do you know about it?" Makoto's stare showed how much he was confused. Haru was taking it too calmly, even if it was _Haruka_ he was talking about. That was a weird subject! _Right?_

But all Haruka did was blink about Makoto's question. "About what?"

"About my gender! I thought you'd at least ask for a better description or something... I thought you'd be at least surprised!"

"Oh, that. Well, I have... Made some research about the subject."

"Why?"

Haruka breathed in, slowly, looking at aer lap so ae could avoid aer friend's glare. _Now is the perfect moment, Haru. Say it._ "I'm none," ae finally said in a low whisper while Makoto's glare was still being ignored.

"So you're...."

"Agender," they both said at the same time, words followed by silence.

"Why didn't you... tell me?" Makoto started. "I mean, it seems you have more knowledge on the subject than I do, and probably discovered yourself earlier too. So why...?" Didn't Haru trust him? That made Makoto a bit sad, but that couldn't be it. They knew each other since they were very young. They told everything to the other. They didn't even need much to know when they were feeling down or were happy or anything like that since they knew the other very much. _Or at least he thought it..._

Haruka raised aer head to look at Makoto. He (they?) looked a bit sad, even with a small smile on his (their?!) lips. That made aer feel a bit bad with aerself, he looked so heartbroken saying that. It's not that ae didn't trust him...! _Or was it **them**?!_ "I didn't know how to. It was frightening, and I feared your reaction. It wasn't lack of trust. I think it was the same for you...?" Makoto slowly nodded. "I didn't want you and the rest hating me and leaving me-"

"I'd never do that to you! Haru, you're my best friend since _ever_ , I'd never leave you just for something like that. You're still you, right? The only difference is that I know you better now."

"I know!" Haru's voice raised a bit too much than planned. "It wasn't rational. I've always been okay with me being like that but it doesn't mean everyone is. There are people who hate binary trans people, so I-" Ae stopped talking after ae felt a body pressing aer into a hug.

"Shhh, Haru, it's ok. We're here for each other right? No matter what the other thinks of us, we'll be always here supporting ourselves, and I bet all our friends will be the same. Don't think too harsh about it."

After those words were said, the silence came by once more. It wasn't uncomfortable like when Makoto got busted: they both were sharing warmth not only from their bodies but from their heart. They were there for each other, making the other feel relaxed without any words, as it has been since ever between them. Neither of them had notion of how many minutes has passed without a sound, but after a long while Makoto decided to got up, saying he'd change and clean up his face, but when he was steps away from the door Haruka's voice made him stop. "Which pronouns do you prefer?"

Makoto looked back at the agender teen. "Pronouns, huh...? I honestly didn't think much about it since I'm used with male pronouns. But I'd like to test being called a they... I think it fits...?" He-, no, _they_ didn't seem to be much sure about it but when Haruka nodded at them, saying ae'd keep it in aer mind, they smiled brightly. "What about you, Haru?"

 They noticed Haruka looked a bit sad before answering, even if it was just for a second. "I actually really like the ae pronoun but it's an English pronoun so I don't think it fits Japanese."

"That's why we're here for, right?" They only got a confused blink as a response. "We're going to study English now. Maybe if we learn it properly we'll manage to add this pronoun to Japanese too," and before ae reacted, the bigender teen left the room towards the bathroom.

Haruka laughed lightly, _gladly_ they were off so ae didn't need to hide from Makoto the blush that appeared on aer cheeks. Nothing had changed. It was all the same.

_"The only difference is that I know you better now."_

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this!!!  
> (it took me too much to finish it and I kinda rushed at the ending since tomorrow is the day this draft would be deleted if I didnt post it but PC died and yeahhhh but I was blocked at the end soooooo pls dont hate me for the bad ending)  
>  ~~ps can someone gimme more agender haru a/o bigender makoto pls i beg ty~~
> 
> OH AND in case any of you are wondering about my other works, my PC died and I might need to write all I had in it all again. Chap 3 of [my Assassin/Royalty boueibu AU](http://archiveofourown.org/works/4043062) is almost fully rewritten, and two new fics for [DMMd's Clearenao genderswapping series](http://archiveofourown.org/series/229694) will be rewritten after that (so yeah, A/R AU will be lightly delayed. more. orz)


End file.
